As The World Turns Discussion Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

At random, or maybe algorithm, I came across this NYT interview with Julianne Moore for their Screentest series. It's from about 11 years ago, in which she notes the cancellation of ATWT. Perhaps it has been posted here previously but some people may not have seen it.

 

[Soaplovers]

 

When Sierra was introduced, Lily was still thought to be Lucinda's biological daughter. That predated Marland, who was the one to come up with the adoption angle for Lily.

 

I think the Lily/Lucinda conflict was fine without the adoption angle.  In fact, having Sierra around would make Lilyy jealous...and also afraid of being dumped by Lucinda..like Sierra was dumped by her.

 

 

[Vee]

Jordana Brewster (Nikki) discusses her time on ATWT while being interviewed for the latest Fast & Furious film.

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

 

That's fair.

I do wonder though, how far they could take a storyline like that before it starts to plateau. Sierra's not Meg, neither is Lily, so I see them eventually becoming amicable after a few months, whereas, Lily's birth story stretched out nearly two years, and involved several characters. Everybody involved in that storyline got a lot of mileage out of it.

 

Jordana Brewster didn't look anything like Benjamin Hendrickson but somehow, they had truly believable father/daughter chemistry. Tess and Nikki were two characters that I would have liked to see pop in in occasion, especially after the characters left the canvas. I wished the show had thought to ask Brewster to do a cameo after BH/Hal Munson passed away. Did the current production people even remember that Nikki existed? 

[P.J.]

 

They must have, Nikki was briefly recast with that Molly look-alike.

 

I'm glad Jordana has fond memories of ATWT and specifically mentioned BH. The anniversary of his death is right around the corner.

[dragonflies]

Awww Jordana Brewster seems sweet and love that she's not ashamed of her time on ATWT

[DramatistDreamer]

 

Honestly, I think it's myth that the majority of actors who have been on soaps are ashamed of having been on them. I think soap fans are being too sensitive on this. The disrespect that the genre gets is mostly by industry executives, those with actual power to decide what we see on our screens.

Are there some actors ambivalent about discussing their time on soaps? No doubt ,there have been a few well-publicized examples, but even out of those, I'd separate those who don't want to discuss their time because they felt their performances were subpar, or that they were so "green" that they didn't really know what they were doing.

This is just me talking, but I get far more put out by the lack of acknowledgement of these shows' impact on the television and media landscape, as well as the lack of a rigorous critique of its shortcomings and how this may have led it to where it is now.

Edited June 27, 2021 by DramatistDreamer
Android auto-correct is by far the dumbest auto-correct tool I have ever used.

[Soaplovers]

While Jordana Brewster's Nikki didn't resemble Hal in looks...she certainly had his hot headed tendencies and his stubbornness.

 

She and Hal had great father and daughter material to play, and she was close to Barbara as well.  And I loved her and step mom Carly's arguing all the time.  She had some good material to play in those 3 years.

[DramatistDreamer]

We might have discussed this in this thread previously, but I have a question about the first episode that aired in the 2p.m. EST timeslot on March 23, 1987. (because of the debut of B&B in the 1:30p.m. timeslot): Does anybody know what specific stories and characters appeared on that episode? Unfortunately, it's not on YouTube.

[Vee]

 

I think there are some folks are outright disdainful and shitty about it, but in fairness the soaps can be a meat grinder and shitty, especially in modern times. I can't blame some for being uninspired and unhappy in their years there. I do think a number of the cases cited of ex-soap actors being 'a bitch' about it are unfair though - I remember people wanting to draw and quarter Robin Wright for a long time for her commentary when she was younger, when it sounds like she was at Santa Barbara during a time of constant upheaval while also being a very green young actress unhappy with herself and the work. And her attitude on SB has shifted a bit since. I don't know about Meg Ryan.

[dragonflies]

Ugh Demi Moore sneers at her time on GH. I don't think MR has ever said anything good about her time on ATWT

[DRW50]

I don't get the feeling Marisa Tomei enjoyed her soap work much either, but she mostly just doesn't talk about it. 

[Forever8]

I think for every Julianne Moore who looks back on her years fondly on As The World Turns. You have a Meg Ryan who would whether talk about her least grossing movie she ever made than to talk about her years as Betsy on As The World Turns. 

Edited June 27, 2021 by Forever8

[Soapsuds]

The Friday episode is on YouTube and the cliffhanger is Emma finding out about John and Lucinda.  The episode was released on DVD 

[Vee]

One of the OLTL directors(?) said Marisa left ATWT though they wanted her to stay because she couldn't handle the daily grind and didn't feel she was doing her best work. I've never heard of her talking down about the show though.

 

Alec Baldwin, to his credit, has I believe always been very supportive of the soaps (and went so far as to be critical of early Y&R at one point for ruining the genre!). IIRC Kim Zimmer has said she and Alec are close to this day.

Edited June 27, 2021 by Vee